Character

Portrayed by

First seen

Last seen

Contents

Character

Sam first appears as an emotionally reserved guy, who strikes up a no-strings relationship with Jess. He's later revealed to be a pediatrician, and actually not so closed off, but scarred from heartbreak. He becomes incredibly cynical after Jess cheats on him with Nick and later adopts a new persona in his relationship with a free-spirited woman. When he realises that he hasn't been himself for a long time, he tries to start over again and ends up dating Jess – for the second time. Sam opens up to love again with Jess, but later realises that he's in love with his best friend from med school – Diane.

Series arc

Sam dated Jess for a while, starting out first just hooking up. After Jess developed feelings for Sam, they broke up only for Sam to declare his love for Jess and they reunite and start dating in earnest. However, Sam broke up with Jess after he found out about that she and Nick shared a kiss.

Sam meets Jess in a bar where he is supposed to meet his blind date, Katie. Jess uses this opportunity to cure her boredom after losing her job, so she pretends to be Katie lying about her lifestyle and private information.

The next morning, Jess asks Schmidt and Nick to play along with her act so the three of them pretend to be professional dancers when Sam approaches them from the bedroom. To keep up with the bit, Nick starts to ‘leap’ ungracefully around the room. Soon after this, Sam leaves the apartment.

Sam and Jess are later making out in the men's bathroom stall in the club, Jess' previous date Bearclaw and his friend/co-worker Andy walk into clean to stalls. Hearing a female voice inside the stall. Bearclaw thinks there's a woman being harmed, he calls out and Sam replies causing him to bash the door down, only to find his "love" Jess with Sam. All of Jess' lies unravel and the truth is spilled out. Nick enters the bathroom to help Jess attempt to explain herself. The scene cuts when Nick leaves them all in the bathroom confused and angry.

The next day, Sam appears at Jess' door. He tells her that he doesn't care what her name is, who she is, her interests, likes or dislikes, or that he doesn't want her to care about him. He states that he only used a blind dating website to sleep with girls who he doesn't work with. Jess agrees with Sam and the two begin their unique relationship.

Trivia

Sam's best friend that he's in love with is named Diane, a nod to the infamous Cheers romance.